ETHICS

• What is the BPS Code of Ethics?

  A set of guidelines which have been outlined by the British

  Psychological Society for anyone carrying out psychological research in the UK.
• There are four ethical principles which are the main domains of responsibility for consideration by researchers within the code; respect, competence, responsibility and integrity.
• Ethics are a key part of psychological investigation, as researchers have the responsibility to ensure that their practice is morally correct; ill practice could lead to banning from further practice as a psychologist.
• What is consent?

  Have participants given informed consent? If the participant is under 16 years old, has informed consent been given by their parents or carers?
• What is deception?

  Have the participants been deceived in any way? Could this have been avoided? Generally, participants should not be misled during an investigation. However, sometimes participants need to be unaware of the true aims of an investigation - or even that they are participating in a study - to yield results that are valid (i.e. the data is a true reflection of what was supposed to be measured). This emphasises the need for

  participants to be debriefed at end of the study.
• What is protection of participants?

  Researcher must protect participants from both physical and

  psychological harm. It is the responsibility of the researcher to ensure that participants are not caused any long-term physical or mental damage. E.g, participants may be temporarily caused distress, although research will be pre-approved by an ethics committee to ensure this is sufficiently minimised, and researchers are expected to take participants through a detailed debriefing.
• What are 3 ways of dealing with issues?

  • Debriefing
  • Withdrawal from the investigation
  • Anonymity and confidentiality.
• What is debriefing?

  Have the participants been debriefed? Have they been given the opportunity to ask questions? Participants should be told the true motivations behind the investigation, and given the opportunity to clarify any misunderstandings with the researchers.
• What is withdrawal from the investigation?

  Have the participants been informed of their right to withdraw from the research at any point, including the right to withdraw their data at a

  later date? As part of their briefing prior to giving consent to partake, participants must be informed that they can leave the study at any point, and are under no obligation to disclose a reason why.
• What is anonymity and confidentiality?

  Participants have a right to remain anonymous in publication of the research and confidentiality should be maintained except in exceptional circumstances where harm may arise to the participant or someone associated with the research.